Mr. Patapoum's First Trip

Lisa Arsenault is an elementary-school teacher in Ajax.

Mr. Patapoum is an ingenious Mr. Fixit in pig form who can build and
repair anything. He must take his first trip away from his workshop when
one of his duck friends is accidentally left behind by his parents on
their winter flight south, and Mr. Patapoum offers to take him to his
family. In the course of their journey, they encounter several animals
having mechanical difficulty with a variety of forms of transport. Mr.
Patapoum renders assistance and, in the process, transforms each vehicle
into something more elaborate, eventually ending up with a flying
machine. While in the air, Mr. Patapoum encounters the ducks flying back
to retrieve their baby, and parents and child are reunited.

This is a useful book for conveying to younger children the values of
perseverance and self-reliance. Each animal assures Mr. Patapoum that
its mechanical difficulty is insuperable, but Mr. Patapoum remains
unfailingly optimistic, determined, and cheerful, and eventually
overcomes all obstacles. An older child would have a difficult time
accepting Mr. Patapoum’s virtuoso performance with hammer and saw, but
younger children will enjoy the magical transformation of scooter into
boat into jeep into flying machine. The illustrations are unique:
photographs of modeled clay figures in sets constructed from wood,
plaster, and foam, which reinforce the do-it-yourself theme.
Recommended.